Google Ads for renovation companies: campaigns that convert

Google Ads is the fastest acquisition lever in digital marketing for renovation companies and, at the same time, the channel where the most money burns in this sector. I have audited accounts spending £2,000-£3,000/month for two years without a single qualified quote request, and accounts billing £80,000-£120,000 with £800/month campaigns. The difference is rarely luck or project size. Almost always it is the configuration.

This article is the second satellite of the renovation cluster. The pillar on digital marketing for renovation companies explains why Google Ads is one of the four channels that pay off in this sector. Here I walk you through, step by step, how to configure a Google Ads account for a renovation company that actually converts: campaign types, match types, geo targeting, negative keywords, landings and real measurement.

If you want concrete investment ranges by sector, pair this with how much Google Ads cost in 2026. If you want to know the mistakes that come up most often in consultations, the reference is 10 common Google Ads mistakes.

Why Google Ads is either a trap or a lever in renovation

Before getting into configuration, three sector realities completely change what works and what does not in SEM.

The buying cycle is long, not impulsive. A renovation is the second-most expensive purchase in most homeowners’ lives. The user does not decide on the first click: they research for 3-8 weeks before requesting a first quote. If your campaign optimises for “conversions in 24 hours” (which Performance Max does by default), the algorithm will interpret as noise the most valuable searches — the ones that arrive after weeks of research.

CPC in renovation is high. In London, Manchester or Birmingham, “full renovation [city]” sits between £3.50 and £7 per click in peak hours. That means £300/month only buys you about 50-80 clicks — too few for the algorithm to find patterns and too few to draw conclusions. Below £500/month the account is basically learning without return.

Search intent varies wildly within the same keyword. Someone typing “bathroom renovation London” might be a homeowner with budget and urgency or a curious browser comparing prices with no short-term intent to hire. Filtering early is decisive: negative keywords and early qualification on the landing are what separates profitable accounts from accounts that only spend.

Once you internalise those three points, configuration choices become much simpler. Let’s get into it.

Campaign types: what works and what burns money

Google offers seven distinct campaign types. In renovation, only one works well consistently; two are useful in specific scenarios; the rest are usually a trap.

What does work

Local-only Search. Search campaigns with strict geo targeting, high-intent keywords in exact or phrase match, and manual bidding or “maximise conversions” with a target CPA. This is the mother campaign. 90% of your budget should live here for the first 4-6 months.

Dynamic remarketing (with caution). Only if you already have sustained visit volume (at least 2,000 sessions/month on site). Recovering someone who visited the bathroom renovation page without converting makes sense. Before that, there is not enough audience and cost is prohibitive.

What rarely works

YouTube brand Ads. Useful for companies with >£3,000/month budgets that want to build local brand awareness. Below that figure it is burning money because branding without follow-up search does not convert into a renovation purchase.

Discovery Ads. They work in e-commerce. In high-ticket B2C services like renovation, conversion is minimal.

What burns money

Performance Max. Google promises it learns on its own and optimises for you. In renovation, what it learns is to spend your budget on cheap but irrelevant clicks. I have seen PMax accounts where 70% of spend went to searches like “DIY renovation tutorial”, “labour reform pension” or YouTube how-to videos. Google’s aggregated report looked good (low CPA) because it counted any form fill as a conversion, including junk. When we filtered for genuinely requested quotes, real CPA was £280/lead. If your agency recommends it as the main campaign, ask to see the real search-term breakdown before agreeing.

Mass display on related sites. Banners on decor blogs or DIY sites. Low CPC but near-zero conversion. Only works combined with remarketing and a proper funnel.

Search with broad match. Showing up when someone types “tax reform Q4” or “education reform 2026” is what happens when you let Google decide the matching. Broad match in renovation is ruinous unless you have a team dedicated to scrubbing negatives daily.

Recommended account structure for a renovation company

Structure is one of the highest-impact factors on CPA and is almost never discussed. What works in this sector:

• 1 Search campaign per main renovation type (full renovation, kitchen renovation, bathroom renovation, facade refurbishment). Do not mix types in the same campaign because CPC and intent differ.
• Within each campaign, 2-4 ad groups segmented by geographic modifier (“London”, “Chelsea”, “Battersea”) and/or by commercial modifier (“turnkey”, “quote”, “price”).
• Each group with 3-5 keywords max, all with the same intent.
• Each group with 2-3 different responsive search ads so Google A/B tests and picks the best.

A company with £800/month can comfortably run 2 campaigns (full + kitchen) with 6 groups in total. That is enough granularity not to dilute signals while not fragmenting so much that no group accumulates data.

Keywords: what actually converts in renovation

The keywords that convert best in renovation share three traits: they include a commercial modifier (quote, price, turnkey, hire), they carry a geographic modifier, and they specify the type of project.

Examples of keywords that work in exact match:

• “full renovation London price”
• “kitchen renovation quote Chelsea”
• “turnkey flat renovation [city]”
• “complete bathroom remodel [neighbourhood]”
• “facade refurbishment quote [city]”
• “80m² flat renovation cost”

Examples of keywords that look good but are not:

• “renovation” (alone) — too generic, high CPC, scattered intent.
• “cheap renovation” — attracts the worst possible client. Never include it.
• “24-hour renovation” — anyone searching this wants emergency maintenance, not a full project.
• “how to renovate” — purely informational intent, not commercial.

Negative keywords: the mandatory minimum list

Negatives are where the account is won or lost. Without a strong list, even the best campaign ends up spending on irrelevant searches. This is the minimum list I apply on day 1 in any new renovation account:

• Legal/political negatives: labour reform, tax reform, constitutional reform, education reform, healthcare reform, pension reform.
• DIY/informational negatives: how to, step by step, tutorial, video, youtube, free, manual, template, tips.
• Cheap-price negatives: cheap, low cost, discount, sale, offer, promotion.
• Profession/employment negatives: course, training, jobs, employment, cv, resume, freelance, apprenticeship.
• Non-relevant B2B negatives: wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, importer.
• Out-of-zone geo negatives: list of cities you do not serve that keep appearing in your search terms.

On top of that, a weekly job of reviewing the search-terms report and blocking what does not fit. In the first 3 months, dedicate 20-30 minutes every Monday to this: it is the single highest-impact action to lower CPA.

Geo targeting: specific cities, not radius

The second most expensive mistake in renovation is defining geo targeting as a 50 km radius around the office. That makes your ads appear in towns where you would never work and dilutes relevance for your core area.

What works:

• Specific selection of cities where you actually take projects (Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham, Putney) instead of a radius.
• If you are in a large city, target by specific neighbourhoods when Google Ads allows it.
• Bid adjustments by geography: if Chelsea delivers 40% better CPA than Camden, raise the bid in Chelsea and lower it in Camden.

What to avoid:

• “People in or showing interest in your area” — that setting makes you appear to tourists searching with no intent. Always switch to “People physically present in your area”.

Bidding: when to use each strategy

Google offers several bidding strategies. For renovation with a modest budget (£500-£1,500/month), the recommended hierarchy is:

• Month 1-2: manual CPC bidding. Full control and prevents the algorithm from “learning” on your money. Start with a sensible max CPC (in renovation, £2.80-£4.50 depending on area) and adjust weekly.
• Month 3-6: maximise conversions with target CPA. Once you have 30+ accumulated conversions in the last 30 days, this model automates well. Before 30 conversions, the algorithm lacks data and ends up driving CPC up.
• Month 6+: target ROAS only if you have value-per-conversion tracking. Only if you have implemented average contract value tracking by channel in your CRM.

NEVER use “maximise clicks” in renovation. It brings cheap, useless traffic.

Ads: structure and mandatory extensions

The ad is the last thing the user sees before clicking. In renovation, what works especially well:

• Headlines with keyword + commercial differentiator: “Full renovation Chelsea | Quote in 48h”.
• Descriptions with social proof and process: “Over 80 renovations completed in Chelsea. Free site visit. Fixed deadline in contract.”
• Clear and specific CTA: “Request quote in 2 minutes” beats “Learn more”.

Mandatory extensions:

• Call extension with a local number (not premium-rate, that cuts CTR by 30%). In renovation, a lead that calls is 4 times more likely to sign a contract than a form fill.
• Location extension synced with Google Business Profile. Reinforces local signal.
• Sitelinks to your 4 most important pages (kitchen renovation, bathroom renovation, full renovation, case studies).
• Structured snippets with categories like “Renovation types: full, kitchen, bathroom, facade”.
• Promotion extensions only if you have a real offer — fake promotions are sanctionable by Google and damage your quality score.

Landing pages: one per renovation type, not the home

Sending Google Ads traffic to the home is one of the most expensive and most common mistakes. The home mixes all services and conversion plummets. A dedicated landing per renovation type can multiply conversion rate by 5-8.

Structure of a renovation landing that works:

• Above the fold: headline with exact keyword + before/after photo of a real project + visible phone number + WhatsApp button + short form (name, phone, m², city).
• Gallery section: 8-15 before/after photos of real projects of the specific renovation type. No stock.
• “How we work” section: 4-6 steps with realistic timelines (technical visit, fixed quote, project planning, execution, handover).
• Real testimonials with name, city and project type. Photo if the client agrees.
• “How much it costs” section: indicative range by m² or project type, with the standard “fixed quote after technical visit” disclaimer. This filters out-of-budget clients before they fill in the form.
• Specific FAQ: 4-6 real questions like “can I live there during the works?”, “what about the building permits?”, “how long does a bathroom renovation take?”.
• Repeated CTA at the bottom with the same promise.

Target size: 800-1,200 words, mobile load under 2.5 seconds, Service or LocalBusiness schema embedded.

Conversion tracking that actually matters

If you don’t measure well, you don’t optimise well. In renovation, the conversions that actually inform the algorithm are:

• Phone call from ad (over 90 seconds duration — discards accidental clicks).
• Short form completion on a landing (not on the home).
• Started WhatsApp conversation with first user message.

Do NOT count as conversion: clicks on “learn more”, scrolls, time on page. None of those correlate with real quote requests.

Assign different values to each conversion type. A call is worth more than a form because it closes better. That tells the algorithm to chase calling traffic, not form-filling without signing.

Investment plan and realistic scaling

For a small-to-medium renovation company starting out:

• Month 1: £500-£700 budget, 100% local Search with 2 campaigns (full + kitchen/bathroom depending on main service). Goal: learn which keywords convert in your area, scrub negatives, gather real CPA data.
• Month 2-3: Hold £700-£900/month. Optimise groups by results. Start A/B testing ads. Target CPA: under £80 per quote requested.
• Month 4-6: If CPA is stable under £80, scale to £1,000-£1,500/month. Add a third campaign (facade refurbishment or premium full renovation). Activate dynamic remarketing.
• Month 6+: With 100+ accumulated conversions, consider switching to “maximise conversions with target CPA”. Before that, stay manual.

If after 90 days your CPA is not below £150/lead, do not scale: there is a configuration, landing or differentiation problem that should be audited before spending more.

Real case: Reformas en Pedralbes (Barcelona)

Reformas en Pedralbes is one of our two active clients in the sector. Context: premium residential in upper Barcelona, average project value €80,000-€350,000, local client who lives 5 minutes from the office.

Ads setup that worked:

• Starting budget: €600/month on a single Search campaign.
• 4 groups: Pedralbes, Sarrià, Tres Torres, Sant Gervasi — each with neighbourhood-exclusive keywords.
• Exact + phrase match, NEVER broad.
• Manual bidding for the first 2 months, then maximise conversions with target CPA €35.
• Call extension with a local Barcelona number (not mobile, not premium-rate).
• Dedicated landing per project type (premium full renovation, kitchen renovation, bathroom renovation).
• 240-keyword negative list scrubbed weekly during the first quarter.

Results at 9 months:

• Average CPA per quote requested: €32.
• Quote-to-signed-contract rate: 28%.
• Real cost per signed contract: ~€115.
• Average signed contract value via Ads: €142,000.

Full analogous case in Ibossim case study, with the twist that Ibossim clients buy from abroad (UK, Germany, France) and that shifts the entire campaign structure toward bilingual and seasonal.

Mistakes I see in 80% of accounts I audit

To finish, the most common failure patterns when a renovation Google Ads account is not performing:

• Performance Max as the main campaign without filtering real search terms.
• Broad match on high-CPC keywords.
• Geo by kilometre radius instead of specific cities.
• Traffic sent to the home instead of dedicated landings.
• Negative list missing or under 30 negatives.
• Mis-configured conversions (counting clicks as conversions, not real calls).
• No call extension or premium-rate number cutting CTR by 30%.
• Automated bidding enabled before 30 accumulated conversions — the algorithm overshoots and CPC spikes.

Any of the above can be costing you between 30% and 70% of your monthly budget in useless clicks. Auditing the account once a month for 60 minutes pays off handsomely.

If you want me to review your Google Ads

At Ad2Place we manage Google Ads for renovation companies in Barcelona, Ibiza and other regions. We do not promise unreachable positions or inflated figures: we show you the real numbers from the accounts we run and, if your case fits, we explain specifically what would make sense to do.

Book a 45-minute consultation with no obligation with José and we review your current Google Ads account live (or your plan to start from scratch). Whether you end up working with us or not, you leave with a clear diagnosis of what is failing and the right order to fix it. No lock-in, no blanket contracts.